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Trace Elements in Abiotic and Biotic Environments
The March 2011 accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima in Japan,
caused by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, released both Cs radionuclides to the
environment. Radionuclides deposited on the ground surface were washed off to rivers and finely transported to the sea, where they are absorbed by bottom sediments
(Onishi and Yokuda 2013).
10.6.3 WATERS
After the accident in Chernobyl, 137 Cs concentration in the Black Sea was 2.7–
8.1  pCi/L, whereas in the Mediterranean Sea was 0.13 pCi/L (ATSDR 2002b).
Typical present background of 137 Cs content in Russian river and lakes is within
1–10 Bq/m 3 (Krylova et al. 2011).
This radionuclide is likely to concentrate in bottom sediments. Its content in sediments of the pond close to Chernobyl was up to 11 Bq/g, whereas in surface layer of
sediments of the Baltic Sea, it ranges between 100 and >200 mBq/g (Kabata-Pendias
and Mukherjee 2007). The mean annual decrease in 137 Cs levels in bottom sediments
of some Masurian lakes (Poland) during 1992–1995 was from 4.2% to 7.8% (Kapala
et al. 2008).
Fishes from both freshwater and seawater may contain elevated amounts of 137 Cs.
Its highest concentration, up to 8 Bq/kg, has been reported for fish from ponds in
Chernobyl (Jagoe et al. 1997). Decreased levels of this radionuclide was reported in
fish from the lakes of Finland, from 66,297 to 18,567 pCi/kg during 1988 and 1992
(ATSDR 2002b).
Concentrations of 134 Cs and 137 Cs in drinking water was established at 900 and
1000 pCi/L, respectively (ATSDR 2002b).
10.6.4 AIR
Concentrations of 137 Cs in air in the South Pole in the 1970s was within the range of
0.072–0.14  pg/m 3 , and in the North Pole in the 1990s was 10–60 pg/m 3 . Its maximum
concentration in air in New York City, after the Chernobyl accident, was reported as
0.26 pCi/m 3 (ATSDR 2002b).
10.6.5 PLANTS
Similarly, as stable Cs, its radionuclides are easily absorbed by plants. Experiments
with 137 Cs addition to various soils have indicated that the highest amounts of
137 Cs were taken up from sandy acid soils (in nCi/g) by cabbage—leaves, 34.9;
cucumber—fruits, 8.1; carrots—roots, 6.5; potato—tubers, 5.9; and oat—straw,
10–19 (Kabata-Pendias 2011). Mushrooms reveal a great ability to accumulate this
radionuclide, which might be its serious source in food products (Yordanova et al.
2007). A broad range of 137 Cs, from 0.005 to 1.6 mg/kg, was found in mushrooms
grown in Japan (Tsukada et al. 1998).
Tsukada et al. (2002) reported that up to 77% of 137 Cs was accumulated in nonedible (old) leaves of cabbage.